Thread: ELDEN RING |OT| One Ring To Rule Them All (Decent Internet Connection Recommended).
Official Thread
Turns out that quality sells. That makes me happy.

I'm glad that actual game design quality sells. It's great where it matters the most and I hope that other developers get the message.

The weird thing is, I'm always for quality vs quantity, prefer more focussed and tight games vs a ton of filler content. But here, they have an incredible amount of content, that is ALSO very well designed, matters and isn't filler at all.
 
I'm glad that actual game design quality sells. It's great where it matters the most and I hope that other developers get the message.

The weird thing is, I'm always for quality vs quantity, prefer more focussed and tight games vs a ton of filler content. But here, they have an incredible amount of content, that is ALSO very well designed, matters and isn't filler at all.

I'm a little torn on this. Compared to other open world games 100% agree, compared to other From Software games there are quite a lot of reused assets and traveling "empty" areas between locations (certainly relative to the other series games).

What is better ALOT of good content (Elden Ring) vs a smaller amount of great content (Dark Souls, Bloodborne)? I'm not sure I have an answer. I think I'd like to see both formats alternating. I certainly wouldn't want every From game from now on to be open world.

To some degree I'm splitting hairs. Both styles are amazing 5 tar games, just in different ways.
 
I'm a little torn on this. Compared to other open world games 100% agree, compared to other From Software games there are quite a lot of reused assets and traveling "empty" areas between locations (certainly relative to the other series games).

What is better ALOT of good content (Elden Ring) vs a smaller amount of great content (Dark Souls, Bloodborne)? I'm not sure I have an answer. I think I'd like to see both formats alternating. I certainly wouldn't want every From game from now on to be open world.

To some degree I'm splitting hairs. Both styles are amazing 5 tar games, just in different ways.

I was very sceptical regarding an open world Souls game at first. Not really feeling it. Now I love it though. There actually isn't that much emptiness most of the time, there's something interesting always nearby. Some of the wider big areas, yes I agree, some emptiness for sure. But they are so damn epic and very important for the overall atmosphere.

Really comes down to design philosophies and an open world is always less focussed and streamlined compared to a more linear experience. I think FROM did an outstanding job in filling their world with content though.
 
There actually isn't that much emptiness most of the time, there's something interesting always nearby. Some of the wider big areas, yes I agree, some emptiness for sure. But they are so damn epic and very important for the overall atmosphere.
Absolutely spot on.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kiNeMs
I think my most fun in Elden Ring is the more "hand crafted" locations. That's not to say I don't have fun outside of that however. But I have noticed alot of similar caves, similar bosses (Tree sentinels) and less secrets than in previous games. The rush of reaching a bonfire is seriously reduced when they are every few 100 meters.

The sense of a whole complete world is really good though. I think it's going to take some serious reflection after I complete it to rank these games. I just think for every advantage the open world brings it also has a negative, leaving me more neutral to its inclusion either way.

It certainly gives this chapter of the franchise a unique flavour though and that has to be commended, so many entries in.
 
  • Brain
Reactions: regawdless
I think my most fun in Elden Ring is the more "hand crafted" locations. That's not to say I don't have fun outside of that however. But I have noticed alot of similar caves, similar bosses (Tree sentinels) and less secrets than in previous games. The rush of reaching a bonfire is seriously reduced when they are every few 100 meters.

The sense of a whole complete world is really good though. I think it's going to take some serious reflection after I complete it to rank these games. I just think for every advantage the open world brings it also has a negative, leaving me more neutral to its inclusion either way.

It certainly gives this chapter of the franchise a unique flavour though and that has to be commended, so many entries in.

The recycling of some bosses was too much, I agree. Even if created with the same assets, I enjoyed the dungeons a lot though, because each had its own twist and design.

Regarding the grace sites in the open world:
For me, it was a different story for different locations. While Limgrave was pretty chill with the grace sites, riding through Caelid, being chased by various monstrosities, not finding a grace site, then nightfall, additional bad enemies appearing .... it was pretty thrilling.

The general placement of the grace sites was a bit random and made exploration exciting.
 
  • 100%
Reactions: Hostile_18
I truly loved my time with this game. The setting was perfect and the world was fantastic to get lost in. My only gripe were the bosses. I thought they were a little bland design wise (Aesthetically). Blood Borne still is #1 in my book but this is a close second.
 
  • Like
Reactions: regawdless
I truly loved my time with this game. The setting was perfect and the world was fantastic to get lost in. My only gripe were the bosses. I thought they were a little bland design wise (Aesthetically). Blood Borne still is #1 in my book but this is a close second.

Enemy design in ER is a mixed bag for me. I like a lot of them, but man are there some really bad ones as well. While Bloodborne was great in that regard. Horrifying, like they got turned inside out through their assholes.

ER has some I dislike a lot:

Laughable
albinauric_1_enemies_elden_ring_wiki_600px.jpg


Burger King
raya_lucarian_sorcerer_set.png


JARS??
living_jars_enemies_elden_ring_wiki_600px.jpg


Idiotic proportions
FNyQhglXwAEbjCC


The final boss looks ridiculous
Interstellar galactic half filled condom with retarded arms
How-to-Defeat-Elden-Beast-Second-Phase-1-900x506.jpg
 
I truly loved my time with this game. The setting was perfect and the world was fantastic to get lost in. My only gripe were the bosses. I thought they were a little bland design wise (Aesthetically). Blood Borne still is #1 in my book but this is a close second.
Honestly for me the art design on enemies is fucking incredible, and the fights are really good fun. Admittedly I have very very limited Souls experience (I'm basically the slowest cunt here) so I can't compare much with previous games, but consider the effort that has to go into each boss - making it pop visually, balancing the attacks and defence vs the million possible builds a person may have. It's a fucking miracle.
 
@Kadayi btw did you discover the secret about the Carian Study Hall tower? Where you chase after that mage?

Honestly, I haven't played in a while. Not that I haven't been enjoying it, but I've been quite low energy of late and that is generally the signal for me to ease up and recharge my batteries. I did notice there is something to interact with at the entrance, but I don't have whatever it is I need yet. Hope to get back to playing towards the weekend possibly, though we will see.
 
Enemy design in ER is a mixed bag for me. I like a lot of them, but man are there some really bad ones as well. While Bloodborne was great in that regard. Horrifying, like they got turned inside out through their assholes.

ER has some I dislike a lot:

Laughable
albinauric_1_enemies_elden_ring_wiki_600px.jpg


Burger King
raya_lucarian_sorcerer_set.png


JARS??
living_jars_enemies_elden_ring_wiki_600px.jpg


Idiotic proportions
FNyQhglXwAEbjCC


The final boss looks ridiculous
Interstellar galactic half filled condom with retarded arms
How-to-Defeat-Elden-Beast-Second-Phase-1-900x506.jpg
how dare you
 
My low level character just bested the godskin duo using the status glitch while the update was downloading in the background.

Feels like i beat both the bosses and miyazaki and i consider that a big win.

Yes I'm easily pleased and i love cheese 🤣
 
Yo Fromsoft, could you please hurry up and add Ray Tracing so I can start my flipping playthrough?

I totally understand you.

BUT I solved that with reshade, MXAO & the RT shader. Tanks performance, but looks great. And I am not certain that FROM will do a better job at it at all. Maybe if they include RT reflections.

Glowy unnatural vanilla vs my reshade:

ezgif-3-ac72324e02c8jwk.gif
 
  • Like
Reactions: Allnamestakenlol
Was playing Dark Souls last night on the Switch, experimented a bit and found putting points into strength and dex, plus endurance obviously, and just two-handing a heavy weapon, is quite a viable approach. In fact it was much better than my traditional sword + shield approach. Did quite well, decided to bring it into Elden Ring. Was getting horribly stuck at Rampart Tower in Stormveil castle and now I'm at Secluded Cell with a fog to... something. Godrick maybe? A young lady has asked me to call her if I fight Godrick so I might just do that.
 
Was playing Dark Souls last night on the Switch, experimented a bit and found putting points into strength and dex, plus endurance obviously, and just two-handing a heavy weapon, is quite a viable approach. In fact it was much better than my traditional sword + shield approach. Did quite well, decided to bring it into Elden Ring. Was getting horribly stuck at Rampart Tower in Stormveil castle and now I'm at Secluded Cell with a fog to... something. Godrick maybe? A young lady has asked me to call her if I fight Godrick so I might just do that.

How's OG Dark Souls holding up?

Before ER, it was the best gaming experience I ever had. I'm always thinking about jumping into the PC version and play it again.
 
That's evidence that you aren't shit anymore. Beating any boss on the second try while not being over leveled is good, even if you summoned warrior chick.
Not sure if I'm over-levelled or not - I'm at level 69:

Vigor 24
Mind 16
Endurance 22
Strength 30
Dexterity 23
Intelligence 19
Faith 6
Arcane 9

I mean I've completely fucked my build but otherwise I'm good...
 
  • Shocked
Reactions: Allnamestakenlol
Not sure if I'm over-levelled or not - I'm at level 69:

Vigor 24
Mind 16
Endurance 22
Strength 30
Dexterity 23
Intelligence 19
Faith 6
Arcane 9

I mean I've completely fucked my build but otherwise I'm good...

Ok that is very high. I was level 30 and in general Stormveil Castle is a 30 - 40 area.

You did some serious farming didn't you?

Either way, play the game how you want. That's the great thing, you can do whatever you want in this game.
 
20220427212715_1.jpg

20220427212652_1.jpg


Proof that art beats tech every fucking time. Just fucking look at it!
I love that view. The first time I saw it I stood there for ages examining all the places I was going to go. Brilliant visual.

Not sure if I'm over-levelled or not - I'm at level 69:

Vigor 24
Mind 16
Endurance 22
Strength 30
Dexterity 23
Intelligence 19
Faith 6
Arcane 9

I mean I've completely fucked my build but otherwise I'm good...
Definitely not fucked. You're all good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HariSeldon
Turns out that when you actually look at all the shit you pick up and engage with all the systems in the game, that you can decimate bosses in no time - in the late game and NG+, when you have picked up the right items and finished some npc quests, that is.

I keep revisiting my NG+ game, have a lot of Larval Tears and am running around, testing different builds. My main build for the game was dual wield jump attack (armor & talisman with buff) with colossal weapons.

There are a lot of buffs and some of them are pretty powerful and I really didn't use them the first time around. Definitely worth using them.

Like, so many buffs for the same things or complementing each other. There are two talismans that increase your damage with consecutive hits AND a Wondrous Physick tear that does that as well. And you can use them at the same time, stacking up. Add a weapon art and an incantation with a damage buff, fast hitting bleed weapons in dual wield, the jump damage buffs as well - it's pretty brutal, the bosses are crying.